Vargas v. Fmi, Inc.
Decision Date | 23 January 2015 |
Docket Number | B246660 |
Citation | 182 Cal.Rptr.3d 803,233 Cal.App.4th 638 |
Court | California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals |
Parties | Jose VARGAS, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. FMI, INC., et al., Defendants and Respondents. |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
See 6 Witkin, Summary of Cal. Law (10th ed. 2005) Torts, § 1247 et seq.
APPEALS from judgments of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Joseph R. Kalin, Judge. Judgments in favor of FMI, Inc. and Eves Express, Inc., reversed. (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. BC459827)
Law Offices of Bernardo De La Torre, Bernardo De La Torre and Ronald A. Martinetti for Plaintiff and Appellant.
Wood, Smith, Henning & Berman, David F. Wood and Steven L. Rodriguez, Los Angeles, for Defendants and Respondents.
Jose Vargas (Vargas or plaintiff) and Luis Felipe Villalobos (Villalobos) were a two-man team driving a tractor-trailer across the country. Villalobos was driving and Vargas was in the sleeper berth when the tractor-trailer rolled over, injuring Vargas. Vargas sued FMI, Inc. (FMI) (the motor carrier and trailer owner), Eves Express, Inc. (Eves) (the tractor owner), Eswin Suchite (Suchite) (Eves's principal), and Villalobos (the driver), for negligence. The trial court granted summary judgment for FMI and Eves, concluding as a matter of law that neither was vicariously liable for Villalobos's alleged negligence.
Vargas appeals, contending that: (1) as a federally licensed motor carrier, FMI owed him a nondelegable duty of care and is vicariously liable for Villalobos's negligence; and (2) Eves is vicariously liable for Villalobos's negligence under Vehicle Code section 17150 ( ). FMI and Eves respond that: (1) under Privette v. Superior Court (1993) 5 Cal.4th 689, 21 Cal.Rptr.2d 72, 854 P.2d 721 (Privette ), a hirer (FMI) is not vicariously liable for the negligence of a person (Villalobos) hired by an independent contractor (Eves); and (2) Eves is not vicariously liable for the negligence of Villalobos under the Graves Amendment, 49 United States Code section 30106(a).
We reverse. Privette and its progeny have never been applied to a case like the present one, where the basis for vicarious liability is alleged to be a “franchise granted by public authority” (Rest. 2d Torts, § 428)—here, a federal motor carrier's license.1 Moreover, federal law requires motor carriers using leased vehicles to “have control of and be responsible for” such vehicles ( 49 U.S.C. section 14102) in order to “protect the public from the tortious conduct of the often judgment-proof truck lessor operators” ( Amerigas Propane, LP v. Landstar Ranger, Inc. (2010) 184 Cal.App.4th 981, 994–995, 109 Cal.Rptr.3d 686). Finally, defendants have not established as a matter of undisputed fact that the tractor's owner is entitled to the protection of the so-called Graves Amendment, 49 U.S.C. section 30106, subdivision (a), which shields owners of leased vehicles “engaged in the business or trade of renting or leasing motor vehicles” from vicarious liability for the alleged negligence of their lessee's drivers. Accordingly, the trial court erred in granting defendants' motion for summary judgment.
FMI is a federally licensed motor carrier that operates a shipping distribution center in San Pedro, California. It arranges transportation of goods for its customers by hiring contractors, sometimes called “owner/operators,” who lease their tractors and drivers to FMI. Eves, owned by Suchite, is one such owner/operator.
In January 2010, FMI was retained to deliver cargo from California to New Jersey. FMI selected Eves's tractor and two of Eves's drivers, plaintiff and Villalobos, to make the trip. Plaintiff and Villalobos drove the tractor to FMI's yard in San Pedro, California, connected the tractor to a trailer, and then departed for New Jersey.
About four hours into the drive, while plaintiff was asleep in the tractor's sleeping berth, Villalobos lost control of the tractor-trailer. The vehicle hit a center divider and rolled over, injuring plaintiff.
Plaintiff filed a complaint in April 2011 alleging a single cause of action for negligence against FMI, Eves, Suchite, and Villalobos, among others. The complaint alleges as follows:
2
FMI and Eves filed a motion for summary judgment in July 2012. They asserted that plaintiff was an independent contractor, not an employee, of FMI and Eves. As such, neither FMI nor Eves owed plaintiff a duty to provide a safe workplace. They contended:
Plaintiff opposed the summary judgment motion. He admitted that he was an independent contractor of FMI and Eves, but contended that his negligence claim against FMI was properly analyzed under the “nondelegable duty” doctrine. Under that doctrine, because FMI is a federal motor carrier regulated by the Department of Transportation and state law, it cannot delegate its responsibility to the public by characterizing its drivers as independent contractors. Accordingly, FMI is liable to members of the public for the negligence of its drivers, including Villalobos. Plaintiff also contended that Eves was liable for Villalobos's negligence pursuant to Vehicle Code section 17150 because Villalobos was a permissive user of Eves's truck.
In opposition to the motion, plaintiff submitted FMI's responses to requests for admissions, in which FMI admitted that the Motor Vehicle Lease Agreement between it and Suchite incorporated language required by federal regulation (49 C.F.R. § 376.12), and further admitted that it operated pursuant to a Contract Carrier Permit issued to it by the U.S. Department of Transportation (Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration), DOT No. 1125882. Further, in response to discovery, FMI produced a “Motor Carrier Identification Report” that identified it as an Interstate Carrier Authorized For Hire. In the most recent calendar year, it owned 184 truck tractors and 506 trailers, “trip leased” 165 truck tractors, and employed or contracted with 349 drivers for interstate and intrastate trips. FMI carried a Motor Carrier Policy of Insurance for Public Liability, with limits of $2,000,000 per accident. FMI admitted that it was a “motor carrier of property” as defined in Vehicle Code section 34601.
In their reply papers, FMI and Eves asserted that plaintiff was a co-driver, not a member of the “motoring public,” and thus was not entitled to the protections of the nondelegable duty doctrine. Further, Eves asserted that Vehicle Code section 17150 was preempted by the federal Graves Amendment, 49 United States Code section 30106, which abolished vicarious liability for owners of leased vehicles in some circumstances.
The trial court granted defendants' summary judgment motion. Its order said: ...
To continue reading
Request your trial